Act One: Issue #2-Chapter 4

After Dilara's eyes studied her surroundings one last time, she saw nothing in her sight that would get her to the second floor. Nothing at all. She wondered how the hell would she get up there now.

The fire's smoke caused her to cough a bit more often. Her ears still received the little girl's cry right in front of her, causing her to finally spot the stairway. She had to keep moving before the fiery smoke killed her.

Dilara advanced her way towards the stairway and the burning ceiling dropped towards the ground near her. She screamed and jumped up a bit out of shock, breathing a couple more times while she coughed.

Dilara was lucky she didn't get burned alive nor had the ceiling fell on her, especially with fire on it. She was even lucky that it didn't block the stairway! With the little girl still crying for help, Dilara turned to the stairway and the dropped ceiling back and forth before she turned back to the stairway. She sighed out of relief.

Dilara looked up at the ceiling, dashing upstairs. "Don't worry, little girl! I'm comin' up there to save you!"

Once Dilara made it on the second floor, the fire was blasted from her left. She screamed and moved away from it while she still coughed.

Dilara was also lucky that the fire nearly burnt her. She never had to encounter it ever again.

Too close! Too close!

Dilara then took a look around out of search for the little girl as she saw nothing but doors on fire on each wall-some doors were opened and others were closed, as well as one opened doorway to her left was completely covered in fire, and a hallway.

A burning corpse lying on the floor caused Dilara to smell this disgusted stench in the hall. Her fingers pinched her nose and only breathed through her mouth. She couldn't stand that stinky hallway.

Then Dilara returned to the hall once the little girl's cry for help reverberated into her ears.

"I'm comin'!" Dilara coughed yet again while she turned to the left opened door at the end of the hall. She could definitely tell that the little girl was definitely in that room, and she would need to get her now.

Dilara headed for the door at the end of the hall, avoiding the dead corpse lying on the floor. The little girl cried for help and Dilara shouted, "I'm comin', little girl! I'm comin'! Never fear!"

Once she made it though and she entered the doorway, her eyes scanned her surroundings and found no little girl in sight; fire was everywhere here and there. "Where are you?!"

"I'm over here!" The little girl responded in a shout.

Dilara turned to that voice and saw the little girl's hand in the air after she heard the little girl's jump a couple times. She studied her surroundings and saw the fire blocked her exit. She then frowned when she took a look around. Wondering how she would rescue that little girl, that was when she needed to search everything in the room and hoped not everything was burned in sight.

When Dilara began to search for something useful to destroy the fire, she failed to find anything useful in that room and the fire blocked her access to the bathroom and kitchen. There were no halls in the room at all. None. Just the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom and the bedroom area. That was it. That was the entire apartment in Castoria.

She hacked while she was searching, trying to breathe out the fiery smoke out of her lungs but she just couldn't. The little girl cried for help and she shouted, "Hold on! I'm tryin' to help you as fast as I can!"

Dilara told her mind that there would have to be something useful in here, and that she needed to hurry up. She wouldn't know how long would that girl survive in the fire for so much longer.

Dilara shouted, "I said, 'Hold on now!'"

Dilara searched everywhere until her eyes spotted something out of interest. There she saw a blue sphere guarding a black box with a ruby in the middle, protecting it from the fire, even when there was no fire standing near it. She grinned at the box. She was finally relieved to find a useful item.

As soon as she was about to touch it, the sphere gave her hand an electric shock. "Ow!" She moved her hand sideways and turned back to the box to glare at it. She wondered how she would get rid of that magic spell now.

Dilara searched everywhere but couldn't find anything useful to unlock the magic. She hacked while the little girl cried for help.

Dilara turned to the little girl. "I said, 'Hold on!' now! I'm tryin' to save you as best as I could!"

Then a mysterious feminine voice echoed Dilara's name above Dilara. "Place your palm in front of the red stone on the box."

"Huh? Who are you? How did you even know my name?" Dilara questioned when she looked up at the ceiling.

"Just place your palm in front of the red stone of the box and I'll tell you about it later," the voice responded.

Dilara looked down at the box and the ceiling back and forth. Her hands were a bit shaky from fear and she even coughed the air without covering her mouth.

"Well? Do you even want to save the little girl and get out of here or not?" The same voice echoed.

"Why should I?! I'm scared of touching the forcefield and I don't even know how to use magic besides healing."

"I can help you with that, Dilara. All you have to do is to do as I say, and you'll be fine…"

Dilara swallowed her own saliva and gazed at the red stone on the box. Alright, Dilara. Here goes nothing. She aimed her palm hand in front of it.

"Now chant, 'Aratova' to break the spell."

"Ara-what?"

After the mysterious woman's voice repeated the magical chant, Dilara chanted a magical spell with her shaky hand. Yet the magic spell had no effect on the sphere.

"You can't be serious."

"I noticed your shaky hand, you need to remain calm when chanting magical spells. Otherwise, it wouldn't work. Try again."

Taking a deep breath, Dilara chanted a spell again and her hand was still a bit shaky. As to no surprise, the magic still had no effect on the sphere.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me!" The little girl's cry for help echoed the room while Dilara still coughed her ass off. "Hold on! I'm tryin' my best here!"

"You're still not calm. You must remain calm and try again."

Then Dilara placed her hand on her wrist, took a deep breath and tried again. At long last, the spell was finally broken. She now curious to know what was in that box, hopeful there was something useful in there for once.

Dilara opened the box to take a look inside and only saw a red pouch which was a bit heavy, a clear, cylinder bottle full of turquoise water and a book. She grabbed all of them, especially the water, and closed the now empty box.

After placing the pouch and the book in her bag, Dilara turned to the fire that blocked and gazed at it for a few seconds. Then she looked up at the ceiling.

"Thank you so much, whoever you are!" was all Dilara could say, yet she heard no response from a mysterious voice. So she asked, "Hello?" three times and still heard no response from the mysterious voice.

Dilara slapped the air and turned back to the little girl behind the fire. It was finally time for Dilara to rescue the little girl and get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

Standing up from the ground, Dilara walked towards the fire and opened the cylinder bottle. Then the turquoise water ascended up in the air and circled around her like a serpent dragon without a pair of wings.

With her surprised face, Dilara watched it for a little while. Then she turned to the empty cylinder bottle and the floating water back and forth. She wondered if that woman chanted a watery spell or what, as she didn't even hear her voice!

The water flew down left and splashed the fire out of it, making a line of black burnt mark on it. Dilara placed the empty bottle on her bag and turned left, hearing the little girl's excited gasp. She was happy that the fire was finally taken out.

Coughing, the little girl walked around the fire and grinned at me with only one of her teeth missing. She dashed forward and hugged Dilara while she and Dilara coughed with their mouths closed for a moment.

Breaking the hug, Dilara said to the little girl, "Okay, let's get out of here and get you back to your mother, okay?"

The ceiling above Dilara and the little girl was about to collapse upon them, making them fearfully look up at it. The little girl shook her head. "Yes, ma'am."

Dilara grabbed hold of the little girl's hand and led her out of the room, then the building just in time before the ceiling collapsed on them. Once they finally exited the building, the little girl dashed towards her mother with her excited face. "Momma!"

"Oh, my baby, I'm so happy you made it out alive!" The little girl's mother exclaimed. She and her daughter hugged one another, crying out of sheer joy.

Dilara took a couple steps and crossed her arms, waiting for the right moment to ask about the ball's location. After a while, the little girl's mother broke up a hug with her daughter and turned to Dilara. "I thank you for saving my daughter, miss. I owe you much gratitude."

"Yea, thank you!" The little girl exclaimed.

"Don't mention it," Dilara responded. Okay, now's the time to ask about the ball's location. "But can you please tell me where the ball is?"

"Oh, the ball? Do you mean-?" The little girl's mother questioned with her confused look on her face.

"The place where people gather together, not something that children play with."

"Oh, that! Right, right!" The little girl's mother chuckled a bit before turning right and pointing out forward. "Okay, you walk straight..."

Dilara turned to her direction and shook her head. "Uh-huh."

"Turn right…" The little girl's mother continued, "Head straight down towards the end of the street and turn right. You should see a building with a glassy, rounded roof."

"Uh-huh, got it. Thank you for your information. I should get goin' now," Dilara said as she waved the little girl and her mother goodbye and headed her way towards the ball. "Take care and be careful!"

"You're welcome and you too!" The little girl's mother waved back at me. The little girl just waved at Dilara.

Following directions, Dilara ran her way throughout Castoria and tried to survive the hellhole-from the gunfires, the falling airships and military planes, soldiers, black monsters terrorizing the kingdom, and even the screaming crowd. Initially thinking about the woman's voice saving her, Dilara looked up in the night sky and was horrified by how many monsters were in her widened, shocked eyes, wondering how many monsters were there.

Panting, as soon as Dilara made it, her eyes searched for and finally spotted a building with a glassy, rounded roof on fire. Although she was happy that she was finally here at the ball, she wondered if Mother and her daughters were still in there.

Dilara dashed her way towards her destination, and once she got there and went inside though, she gasped as she saw a black, fat flying monster scratching on the door. The giant scratch marks were visible on the wooden door, with a door appearing to be bent and was ready to burst open in any minute.

Even though she couldn't see her family around, she heard some screams from that bent door. She gave it her serious face, wondering if her family locked themselves in that room. Either way, she had to save them before that thing killed them.